targeted killing
targeted killing noun: the intentional killing by a government or its agents of a civilian or "unlawful combatant" who is not in that government's custody, and who is taking part in an armed conflict or terrorism, whether by bearing arms or otherwise, and is thus regarded by the government as having lost the immunity from being targeted that he or she would otherwise have under the Geneva Conventions.
Noun
targeted killing (countable and uncountable, plural targeted killings)
- The intentional killing by a government or its agents of a civilian or "unlawful combatant" who is not in that government's custody, and who is taking part in an armed conflict or terrorism, whether by bearing arms or otherwise, and is thus regarded by the government as having lost the immunity from being targeted that he or she would otherwise have under the Geneva Conventions.
- The moral legitimacy of targeted killing becomes even clearer when compared to the alternative means of fighting terror – that is, the massive invasion of the community that shelters and supports the terrorists in an attempt to catch or kill the terrorists and destory their infrastructure.2005, Timothy Shanahan, Philosophy 9/11: Thinking About the War on Terrorism, Open Court Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 191
- Even if the targeted killing is deemed to fall within the laws of armed conflict, the rules relating thereto protect non-combatants. While civilians cannot be targeted, if they are killed or injured during an attack on a military target, then as long as the means employed were discriminate and...2006, Geoff Gilbert, Responding to International Crime, BRILL, →ISBN, page 307
Examples of targeted killing in a sentence
- Even if the targeted killing is deemed to fall within the laws of armed conflict, the rules relating thereto protect non-combatants.2006, Geoff Gilbert, Responding to International Crime, BRILL, →ISBN, page 307:
- In wartime, however, the prohibition against targeted killing is more elusive because the law stipulates that combatants, regardless of their rank or official role, are potential targets.2008, Mark R. Amstutz, International Ethics: Concepts, Theories, and Cases in Global Politics, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, →ISBN...
- The real issue – one emphasized in informal conversations – seems to be that unless the target is a duly designated "combatant," the targeted killing would become an "assassination."2009, Benjamin Wittes, Legislating the War on Terror: An Agenda for Reform, Brookings Institution Press, →ISBN, page 366:
- There is no announced U.S. policy directive regarding targeted killing.2010, Gary D. Solis, The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 542:
Forms of targeted killing
| plural | targeted killings |
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Questions about targeted killing
- What does targeted killing mean?
- Targeted killing means the intentional killing by a government or its agents of a civilian or "unlawful combatant" who is not in that government's custody, and who is taking part in an armed conflict or terrorism, whether by bearing arms or otherwise, and is thus regarded by the government as having lost the immunity from being targeted that he or she would otherwise have under the Geneva Conventions.
- How do you use targeted killing in a sentence?
- Even if the targeted killing is deemed to fall within the laws of armed conflict, the rules relating thereto protect non-combatants.
- What part of speech is targeted killing?
- Targeted killing is a noun.
- What is the plural of targeted killing?
- The plural of targeted killing is targeted killings.
Words near targeted killing in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: targeted killing (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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